Holiday stress

[vraiblonde]

People griping ALREADY about all the stuff they "have" to do for Christmas....

You don't "have" to do anything. You don't have to bake. You don't have to decorate. You don't have to buy a bunch of presents. Nobody is going to stop being your friend if they don't receive a plate of cookies. Your parents won't stop loving you if you don't knock yourself out shopping for them. You don't even have to travel to be with anyone.

Holiday decorating is supposed to be festive and fun. Buying gifts is supposed to be done out of love. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. There's absolutely no reason for anyone to be stressed out over the holidays.

</lecture>

 

[rio]

I stopped sending Christmas cards over 20 years ago because it always stressed me out and got expensive. Did I forget anyone, was it personalized enough, should I add or subtract this person (are they even still alive!)? It brought no joy to my world and I never lost a true friend when I stopped. I did start calling the people I wanted to keep in touch with more often, having real conversations and catching up on life.

 

[PJay]

Me be stressed out?!

NEVER!

 

[PJay]

Holiday decorating is supposed to be festive and fun. Buying gifts is supposed to be done out of love.

I love all of it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year..

 

[spr1975wshs]

I'm not Christian, so Christmas is not on my religious calendar.
My Mrs. was raised Greek Orthodox, they save the gift giving for Three Kings Day/Epiphany in early January.

I am grateful to my fellow citizens who are Western Christian for the paid day off.

 

[CRHS89]

I used to do this to myself. I love Christmas so I thought I needed to do all the things. But doing all of the things made me not enjoy Christmas. And no one was expecting me to do them. It was all me. The last few years I have cut out several things and been much happier.

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

People griping ALREADY about all the stuff they "have" to do for Christmas....

You don't "have" to do anything. You don't have to bake. You don't have to decorate. You don't have to buy a bunch of presents. Nobody is going to stop being your friend if they don't receive a plate of cookies. Your parents won't stop loving you if you don't knock yourself out shopping for them. You don't even have to travel to be with anyone.

Holiday decorating is supposed to be festive and fun. Buying gifts is supposed to be done out of love. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. There's absolutely no reason for anyone to be stressed out over the holidays.

</lecture>

Are you sure you lived in Southern Maryland? The lights competition over here has already started with critiques being shared within the blue hair cohort.

 

[Bann]

People griping ALREADY about all the stuff they "have" to do for Christmas....

You don't "have" to do anything. You don't have to bake. You don't have to decorate. You don't have to buy a bunch of presents. Nobody is going to stop being your friend if they don't receive a plate of cookies. Your parents won't stop loving you if you don't knock yourself out shopping for them. You don't even have to travel to be with anyone.

Holiday decorating is supposed to be festive and fun. Buying gifts is supposed to be done out of love. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. There's absolutely no reason for anyone to be stressed out over the holidays.

</lecture>

I AGREE!

I don't do cards anymore for that reason. (stressed me out!) For some reason unknown to mankind, I had to have my Christmas cards out the week after Thanksgiving. I mean ALL OF THEM and I had a very large Christmas card list, which grew every year. I'd done that since I was in my 20's and had scads of time as a single woman, I guess. A few years ago, I never got to them, and then...well...now I don't send them out. (*hangs my head in shame)

I keep hearing about all the shortages of this or that and the expense of "things". I never spent a ton on Christmas anyway, so it's not a real concern to me. I give the boys a gift card of their choice and a few odds & ends of items they can use. Car stuff, clothing items, etc. Not hard. My grands are in FL, so I Amazon them a gift or 2. My brother is usually a foody gift basket and this year I'm sending him something from a local meat & cheese shop in the county. The nieces - same thing. A foody gift of some kind. Super easy and I LOVE doing that.

I will still bake because I like to do it FOR people. But I don't stress over it and if I get stressed and crunched for time, then I cut out 1 or 2 of the types I'm making, because I know it's my own sense of feeling pressured causing the stress.

Decorating. I like to do it, but I don't like GRANDIOSE DECORATING! I am not like some of my friends who decorate every square inch of their home. I decorate simply. I do NOT go out and buy all new decorations every single year or other year. I don't do "theme" trees, and I ONLY do 1 tree. I like to put my favorite things out - and in total - it's very eclectic and mostly given to me by others, made by the boys when they were younger, and family ornaments & decorations that I've had for over 40 years. (some are about my age) The decorations I have are like a trip down memory lane and THAT makes me happy at Christmastime to have around me.

 

[Kinnakeet]

The easy and stress free way is to give cash

 

[RoseRed]

Rules with my family is if we can't eat it, drink it or wear it, we don't want it.

Easy peasy!

 

[sunshine98]

I'm not a good gift buyer. Would rather go to an event with friends (lunch, Garden in Lights, wine tasting, etc) than exchange gifts. However, the out of town relatives exchange gifts. Some of them spend a lot of time and thought choosing gifts and are good at it. So the expectation is an equally thoughtful gift. ARRRGGG!

 

[Kyle]

Rules with my family is if we can't eat it, drink it or wear it, we don't want it.

Easy peasy!

 

[vraiblonde]

Rules with my family is if we can't eat it, drink it or wear it, we don't want it.

Easy peasy!

I'm a fan of consumables. Nobody wants your giftover home decor.

For the past couple years Monello and I have been gifting each other excursions - a dolphin watch dinner cruise, stuff like that.

 

[RoseRed]

I'm a fan of consumables. Nobody wants your giftover home decor.

For the past couple years Monello and I have been gifting each other excursions - a dolphin watch dinner cruise, stuff like that.

That's a good idea. Sistard and I have been getting rid of "stuff". Someday I'll downsize and don't want or need all that I have.

 

[Kyle]

I'm a fan of consumables. Nobody wants your giftover home decor.

Great.

Now who am I going to leave all my Black Velvet Art to in my will.

 

[RoseRed]

Great.

Now who am I going to leave all my Black Velvet Art to in my will.

Clowns or Elvis?

 

[Kyle]

Clowns or Elvis?

Clown-Elvis fighting bulls.

 

[RoseRed]

Trifecta!

Clown-Elvis fighting bulls.